- a mischievous roguish child, esp one who is young, small, or raggedly dressed
- See sea urchin
- an archaic or dialect name for a hedgehog
- obsolete an elf or sprite
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ur•chin /ˈɜrtʃɪn/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a mischievous child.
- any small child or youngster.
- Invertebratessea urchin.
ur•chin
(ûr′chin),USA pronunciation n.
- a mischievous boy.
- any small boy or youngster.
- InvertebratesSee sea urchin.
- Textileseither of two small rollers covered with card clothing used in conjunction with the cylinder in carding.
- British Terms[Chiefly Brit. Dial.]a hedgehog.
- Mythology[Obs.]an elf or mischievous sprite.
- Vulgar Latin *hēriciōn- (stem of *hēriciō), equivalent. to Latin ēric(ius) hedgehog + -iōn- -ion
- Old North French (h)erichon, Old French heriçun
- Middle English urchun, urchon hedgehog 1300–50
- 1. rascal, scamp.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
urchin /ˈɜːtʃɪn/ n
'urchin' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
echinus
- gamin
- kina
- mudlark
- needle
- sea urchin
- street Arab
- ambulacrum
- Aristotle's lantern
- echinoderm
- guttersnipe
- heart urchin
- hurcheon
- ragamuffin
- whelp